How did you guys figure out what you wanted to do career wise?

My advice is to never pigeonhole yourself into a given specialty within a field. It's good to have a general career direction, such as working in accounting, medicine, etc based on your personal interests. However, you should be open to working in different streams within these fields to get your foot in the door. Once you have worked a few years, you'll find that a lot of your skills are transferable within the profession. This opens up opportunity to switch to public from private sector, from a small firm to a big multinational, and so on.

You could try making a lateral move to a closely related industry and see how you like it there. If it doesn't work out, you could always go back to school to start fresh in a new career path.

Become a cop

Not a very active guy.

Financially speaking, science or business makes money in terms of non-physical labour jobs. I always hated science as well as computer science. So, money-wise, it was business.

Within business, I like numbers, so went accounting.

Did public accounting for a number of years, found out I like analyzing numbers and helping businesses succeed rather than making sure numbers adhere to international standards, so went FP&A.

Can't think of a better profession that fits my personality and skillset.

Insurance is very broad, claims vs. underwriting vs. actuarial vs. portfolio management vs. BI require different skillsets and personalities. You can always change areas of focus within insurance. Insurance is a good industry to be in right now because of the lack of talent.

I dunno, I chose pretty randomly based on my hobbies at the time. In retrospect it's probably worthwhile to do a lot more research before picking.

Do ones that are almost impossible to get into. Then watch the money all roll in. There are always a ratio of risk and reward. More lucrative careers are harder to get into like being a doctor but very low risk high reward if you can get in. You can run a restaurant business for example but it be high risk high reward.

I find maybe doing low risk moderate reward jobs but side hustle high risk high reward on the side.

epik89 wrote: ↑ Currently working in insurance in a pretty mundane role not looking to further the path

In terms of education I just have a general business diploma so it doesn't get me far.

Any suggestions or tips on career paths or choices to look into?

How long have you been in the insurance industry?
What is your current role?
What do you like/dislike about your current role?
Which province are you located in?

Don't sell yourself short. Your diploma and experience are very transferable into every other industry. Just the other day I saw an insurance role with a mining company. It's a good way to get into your desired industry, and then change course once you're in and understand how the operations work.

spike1128 wrote: ↑ Do ones that are almost impossible to get into. Then watch the money all roll in. There are always a ratio of risk and reward. More lucrative careers are harder to get into like being a doctor but very low risk high reward if you can get in. You can run a restaurant business for example but it be high risk high reward.

I find maybe doing low risk moderate reward jobs but side hustle high risk high reward on the side.

I completely disagree with this advice.

The number one thing that should determine your career path is what you enjoy doing.

Like computers? Think about tech? Programming, engineering, etc.

Once you have a career that you are genuinely passionate about, you will naturally excel at that. It will lead to better absorption of information, career advancements, strong relationships, etc.

Once you become experienced in your career that you are passionate about, the money will follow, and you will find yourself loving every aspect of life.

Never chase the money. EVER. Good luck.

easylistener wrote: ↑ My advice is to never pigeonhole yourself into a given specialty within a field. It's good to have a general career direction, such as working in accounting, medicine, etc based on your personal interests. However, you should be open to working in different streams within these fields to get your foot in the door. Once you have worked a few years, you'll find that a lot of your skills are transferable within the profession. This opens up opportunity to switch to public from private sector, from a small firm to a big multinational, and so on.

You could try making a lateral move to a closely related industry and see how you like it there. If it doesn't work out, you could always go back to school to start fresh in a new career path.

Talk to as many different people as possible.

sik20fan wrote: ↑ I completely disagree with this advice.

The number one thing that should determine your career path is what you enjoy doing.

Like computers? Think about tech? Programming, engineering, etc.

Once you have a career that you are genuinely passionate about, you will naturally excel at that. It will lead to better absorption of information, career advancements, strong relationships, etc.

Once you become experienced in your career that you are passionate about, the money will follow, and you will find yourself loving every aspect of life.

Never chase the money. EVER. Good luck.

It depends. If your company is not paying you adequately, then by all means move to another that will pay you your worth. The connections will still be there if it was genuine and life moves forward.

epik89 wrote: ↑ Currently working in insurance in a pretty mundane role not looking to further the path

In terms of education I just have a general business diploma so it doesn't get me far.

Any suggestions or tips on career paths or choices to look into?

What do you do in insurance? Whats so mundane about it?

I had operational roles in Finance and have dabbled in fraud and risk management. I saw a reoccurring theme, people will do a lot of useless and meaningless shit to look busy for years and get too comfortable with it. You can keep doing this but you will never stand out, you have to step out of your comfort zone.

Ask yourself, is there a way to make my mundane work more exicting? Can I do this in a better way? Who can I speak with in the company to get an opinion? Just initiating that opens doors to learn new shit.

Depending on the culture, you might be told to stay in your lane. With F&I i imagine its like this. Depending on your persistence you could still score a small win.

MyNameWasTaken wrote: ↑ It depends. If your company is not paying you adequately, then by all means move to another that will pay you your worth. The connections will still be there if it was genuine and life moves forward.

Sometimes the career or field is not lucrative and is dying out. So I don’t know if someone passionate about it will ever make it in life. That’s what I mean when I was saying before. That’s why all these Asian guys in the RFD is pretty much loaded because they just go for whatever that pays well and all they talk about are grades in school. Actually that’s all they talk about at UofT.

sik20fan wrote: ↑ I completely disagree with this advice.

The number one thing that should determine your career path is what you enjoy doing.

Like computers? Think about tech? Programming, engineering, etc.

Once you have a career that you are genuinely passionate about, you will naturally excel at that. It will lead to better absorption of information, career advancements, strong relationships, etc.

Once you become experienced in your career that you are passionate about, the money will follow, and you will find yourself loving every aspect of life.

Never chase the money. EVER. Good luck.

Respectfully disagree. Money big time matters. Ideally passion/interest and comp go hand in hand, but in reality there is usually a spectrum and you need to pick your spot on it.

I sorta knew what I was going to do when I was 5 years old. We don't do a good job in our society of showing people what needs to be done and what can be done as a job.

sik20fan wrote: ↑ I completely disagree with this advice.

The number one thing that should determine your career path is what you enjoy doing.

Like computers? Think about tech? Programming, engineering, etc.

Once you have a career that you are genuinely passionate about, you will naturally excel at that. It will lead to better absorption of information, career advancements, strong relationships, etc.

Once you become experienced in your career that you are passionate about, the money will follow, and you will find yourself loving every aspect of life.

Never chase the money. EVER. Good luck.

This just isn't true. A lot of people are passionate about painting, sports, acting, etc. A very small fraction of people in those fields make it big through their passions.

Of course you'll want to enjoy what you do to make money. But you should always make sure there is a decent chance for good money to be made.

epik89 wrote: ↑ Currently working in insurance in a pretty mundane role not looking to further the path

In terms of education I just have a general business diploma so it doesn't get me far.

Any suggestions or tips on career paths or choices to look into?

I echo what a lot of people said. Don't feel that a general business diploma limits your options. In the end it's your skills that matter. But it's true that not having a degree could limit certain options.

For me, I think it's key to ask yourself some questions:

1) What do you WANT to do? Some people enjoy working with people. Some people enjoy solving problems. Frankly, the average person just wants to chill and relax. If you have no passion, then naturally you will find this question difficult. You can only discover yourself by partaking in activities. Maybe join some groups or do some volunteer work and through those activities you understand better what you like to do. For example, through volunteering, you might discover you like working with people.

2) What are you good at? If you suck at art for example, I'd advise against a career that depends on your art skill. If you are good at math and science for example, the sciences could be the way to go but you'd have to go back to school. Regardless of age, you can always improve. Never stop working on yourself. But that also means understanding your strengths and weaknesses. There are more things to improve than you have time to improve them. You have to decide if there are weaknesses that you absolutely must improve. Or if you should specialize more in your strengths. Or try to balance both.

3) You say your job is mundane. Ask yourself what kind of job would not be mundane. Frankly a lot of jobs WILL be mundane. A career is not the only way to find fulfillment in life. You can do so through friends/family. You can also do stuff outside of work like building something. Starting youtube channel. Learn cooking. Learn a new language. No job will ever be perfect. For some people, a job is a necessary evil to pay the bills so you can pursue the things you truly enjoy.

Back in University, they were really good at advertising and making people believe that you can become x,y or z.

They provide examples like: System Administrator, Network Analyst, Business Systems Analyst, Project coordinator, etc.

It was until my last semester that I realized it was hard to get those jobs out of school without any connections or experience.

I had to start at the bottom rank. During my first job, I started to explore possible career paths by understanding the organization structure and what roles are available in the industry.
I analyzed my strength which is "detailed oriented" and I found a suitable career that relies on this heavily.

This is how I chose my career. I'm naturally good at it and exceed performance. Which I don't need to put much effort. Whereas some of my colleagues who work in the same role and not as "detailed oriented" have to put alot more effort.

Good advice from @BananaHunter

In the past the diploma would’ve limited you, but insurance is now more flexible when it comes to educational requirements. They want the CIP/FCIP instead because it shows dedication to the industry. If you look at a lot of the workers, few have specialized degrees. Some with degrees got recruited through co-op, were varsity athletes who didn’t make it (no offense), and a high dose of nepotism.

I’m not sure which company you work at, but if you get into like a Zurich, Swiss Re, or multinational in an underwriting or claims space it’s a whole different ballgame. People tend to be more chill and you get to build relationships with people who you normally wouldn’t. Lawyers take direction from the adjusters. So rather than spending a shit ton of money in law school you can go the claims side and work/learn from them, with a lot less stress, and above average pay, with a 9-5 work life. Seasoned pros are making $100k+. You can score some sweet perks too to events and sporting games because people want your business.

Now, if insurance isn’t for you because you don’t like the business then I don’t blame you for leaving. Hell, I encourage it. It’s funny because whenever I tune into Shark Tank/Dragon’s Den many of them say they used to work in insurance and left and are happier lol. I’ve also seen a lot of miserable people within the industry too because they’ve become jaded.

Edit: I’m only speaking on P&C never working in life/health but it does have a more “mundane” vibe to it from what I’m told. IMO, insurance is one of the most lucrative fields that nobody thinks about but you can build a lot of wealth and knowledge. People are starting to clue in on this now and more minorities are applying.

epik89 wrote: ↑ Currently working in insurance in a pretty mundane role not looking to further the path

In terms of education I just have a general business diploma so it doesn't get me far.

Any suggestions or tips on career paths or choices to look into?

I got a very similar degree to your diploma. Do what you like for hobbies and turn it into a job.

I am making 3-6x more than what I would if I got a job in my degree